First up is Angie with this amazing rainbow themed take on the January Faves:

Next is Mystie who’s a girl after my own heart with this woodgrain background:

And then there’s Jenn with these bright & colorful layout that caught my eye right away. I especially love how she clipped a paper to the “FAVES” title so it has an extra punch of pizazz to it.

And finally we have the neutral crew: I had to laugh when I saw all these layouts together because I’ve been on a total cream/neutral background kick with my layouts lately and I love to see that I’m not alone!

What I think is so awesome about these layouts is that even though they’ve all used the same template, each layout feels unique to them and I love how the colors, patterns and embellishments they’ve each chosen fit their Faves.

Join Us in The Faves Project

The 2015 Monthly Faves Project is your creative roadmap for getting more of YOU in your scrapbook albums this year. Every month on the 25th, you’ll receive a brand-new exclusive Faves-themed digital scrapbooking template designed by me, as well as a monthly email with tips and access to a private Facebook group where you can get to know all those happy, smiling faces above.

Here’s a peek at the January Faves template you’ll receive when you sign up. The February template will be released on the 25th which means if you sign up now you’ll receive two templates in the same month. Bonus!

What do you say, want to join us in The 2015 Monthly Faves Project? Sign up here.

If you know me, you know that my Monthly Faves project has kind of become an odd-numbered year thing around here. And since this is 2015, you know what that means: the Monthly Faves are back!

This year instead of going it alone, I’m inviting you to join me as part of the 2015 Monthly Faves Project: a year-long digital scrapbooking workshop designed to help you get more of YOU in your albums.

When you sign up for the 2015 Monthly Faves Project, in addition to an exclusive digital scrapbooking Monthly Faves-themed template designed by me, you’ll also receive a monthly email from me with tips & inspiration and access to a private Facebook group where you can share your work and connect with me and other Faves Project scrapbookers.

Here’s why you should join me in The 2015 Monthly Faves Project:

Because a top ten list is one of the easiest forms of journaling you can do.

Because a list of your personal faves will say more about you than a travel/event/birthday layout ever will.

Because you don’t remember nearly as much stuff as you think you will. Seriously, I look back at the layouts and am constantly reminded in an “oh YEAH!” kind of way.

Because scrapbooking with friends is always more fun.

Because it’s an awesome way to make sure YOU are featured in your scrapbooks too.

I can tell you I’m excited about the return of the Faves but really you should just picture me over here doing a happy dance to Pharrell’s Happy because that’s how excited to be doing this project once more.

2015 will be my fourth time doing my Monthly Faves project, after doing it in 2009, 2011 & 2013. So what is it about this project that keeps me coming back for more?

Well, one of my favorite things about The Faves Project is how my faves layouts capture a snapshot of my life. So today I wanted to show you how they do exactly that.

To start, I give you exhibit A: my first ever monthly Faves layout from January 2009:

On my January Faves list at the time:

Top Chef

American Eagle Jeans

Crafty/decor blogs

Hybrid scrapping

Lady Gaga CD (which I was actually listening to when I made the page)

Quesadillas

Phone calls from Adam

Hitting the gym

New episodes of Psych

Driving my car

Now let’s fast forward to January 2011:

A couple of notables on my list: driving the Murano again (aka my car referenced in the first layout) and reading Young House Love, which I’m pretty sure was my newest crafty/decor blog obsession at the time.

Now let’s time hop again, this time to January 2013:

Well, look at that, Number 8 on my list is Meeting Young House Love. In the two years since I discovered their blog I went from new fan to actually meeting them at a book signing. How cool is that?

I’m not ready to share my January 2015 layout just yet but, spoiler alert, my Faves list includes Top Chef, which oh yes, appears on my very first January Faves layout from 2006.

Seeing these layouts – ten faves, two, four and eventually six years apart – reminds why I LOVE these Faves layouts so very much.

(And not just because my drop shadowing has clearly improved, haha.)

In the six years from when I scrapbooked that very first January Faves layout I’ve:

been through a year-long deployment

sold a car & bought another car

sold our first house

lived in three cities and two states

made three trips to Disneyworld, trips to Chicago, Hawaii, New Orleans, New York and Seattle and numerous trips to California

said goodbye to two grandmothers and hello to one adorable baby of my own

To say my life is different today from how it was in January 2009 would be an understatement.

And yet when I look at these layouts, I’m reminded again that, while my world around me may have changed , so much about me has remained the same.

This is why I love the Faves.

If I were to ask you today what your top-ten favorite things were back in January 2009, would you be able to tell me?

Lord knows I wouldn’t be able to remember. But the beauty of these Faves layouts is I don’t have to.

Because my Faves? They are right there on these layouts capturing a mini snapshot of what my life is like right then and documenting all those little bits and pieces that would otherwise be forgotten. Those little bits that truly make up who we are.

And that right there, my friend, is what scrapbooking is all about.

The Faves express is on it’s way! On Monday February 9th, The Faves Project: 2015 Monthly Faves will be going live! Want to get it in the ground floor?

Let’s chat about your scrapbooking albums for a second. When you look at them, what do you see?

Your family? Your travels? Your everyday life?

Now take a closer look. If you had to take a guess, what percentage of your layouts would you say capture YOUR personal story? As in, how many pages are actually about you?

Me? I’d say 75%. But I’ve also had the luxury of being a child-free scrapbooker for the last eight and half years before my son was born last June.

Odds are if you’re like 99% of scrapbookers out there, your albums are full of adorable kid photos, family adventures and not a whole lot of you.

Why is that?

Well I have a couple of theories:

1) You think your story is boring.

As a new mom, I totally get it. When so much of your life is wrapped up in taking care of someone else, it can be tough to step back and think about yourself. We get caught up in the monotony of day-to-day life and assume that routine=boring.

But I’d argue that your life isn’t boring, it’s normal. And despite what you might think, normal doesn’t mean you don’t have a story worth sharing.

2) You don’t like having your photo taken.

Ah, the irony that is the scrapbooker who takes photos of everyone but themselves. What’s that they say about the cobbler having no shoes?

If you’re a camera-shy scrapbooker, know this: you aren’t alone. In fact, I’d say not being in photos is one of the most common reasons scrapbookers give for not scrapbooking themselves.

What you need is a reason to get yourself out from behind the camera. Because I promise you, it’s nowhere near as scary as you make it out to be in your head.

3) You don’t have time to scrapbook yourself.

Ah, time. In a world that glorifies busy as a badge of honor, taking time for yourself can feel like a luxury. Even with something like scrapbooking, you might feel pressure to focus on the stories of everyone else around you and let your own story fall by the wayside.

Any of these sound familiar?

This is why so many scrapbookers are convinced that telling their own personal story is hard. Because it feels like it’s going to take extra effort and time they don’t have for an end result they can’t picture.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Because when you have a plan in place that makes it easy for you to capture your story, scrapbooking yourself no longer feels hard.

Instead you know exactly what you’re going to say, look forward to getting in front of the camera and are free to focus on the creative side of scrapbooking because you already know the end result is going to be awesome.

This is why I believe every scrapbooker (including you!) should scrap a Faves page.

Because a top ten list is one of the easiest forms of journaling you can do. For real.

Because a list of your personal faves will say more about you than a travel/event/birthday layout ever will

Because it’s an awesome way to make sure YOU are featured in your scrapbooks too

It’s why I keep coming back to this project because I know the Faves make capturing a snapshot of my own life ridiculously easy. And who couldn’t use a bit more ease in their life?

Later this week, I’ll be opening doors to the 2015 edition of The Faves Project: the Monthly Faves. If you want to get more of YOU in your scrapbooking this year, sign up for the exclusive Faves Project list. You’ll be among the first to hear what’s in store and may even get a special bonus when the time comes.

After being a child-free digital scrapbooker for three years, I’d reached a point where I was ready for something new with my scrapbooking. A new challenge. A new idea. I loved the layouts I’d created but I felt like my album lacked a cohesive story and at times they didn’t feel like me.

On one cold, wintery day in January 2009, my husband Adam and I drove the two hour trek from Colorado Springs to Loveland, CO so he could go skiing while I relaxed in the lodge. Strapping sticks to my feet so I can careen down the hill with snow blowing in my face is not this California-girl’s idea of a good time.

While I was sitting in the lodge, laptop out, Lady Gaga playing in my headphones, I started working on a scrapbooking layout. When I started, I didn’t have a clear picture in mind of what I wanted my story to be so, as I often did at the time, I started playing around with papers and elements until eventually an idea came to me.

“Hmm, what if I use these little paper strips for a top ten list?”

I decided on a quick list of things I loved at the time and titled it “January 2009 Faves.”

I loved it.

I loved that it captured a snapshot of my life.

I loved that the design and colors felt like me.

But most of all I loved how easy it was to put together. As someone who tended to stress about every word of journaling she wrote like she was being graded on an English essay, I loved how easy a top ten list of my favorite things was to write.

I had an idea: what if I did one of these every month for the entire year?

While I wasn’t great at finishing year-long projects, I decided to give it a go. To keep things simple I set a few loose guidelines to follow every month:

My list had to include exactly ten items – no more, no less.

Journaling had to be in list form but numbers were optional.

The title for the layout had to include the month followed by the word FAVES.

Each layout had to include a NEW self-portrait taken during that specific month.

Everything else was entirely up to me – color, design, kit, etc.

In February I scrapbooked my February Faves layout. Then March, April, May and before I knew it was November.

In the rush of the holidays I missed December. But overall it was still a win in my book.

In 2011, I challenged myself to complete the Faves again. And then again in 2013. Each time keeping the rules the same but pushing myself to think outside of my own box with the design.

Thirty-five layouts later, the Faves layoutsare still hands-down some of my most favorite layouts ever. They added exactly what my scrapbooking albums needed: a consistent story, a snapshot of my life and a healthy dose of creative design.

What’s more, the Faves remind me time and time again that telling your personal story doesn’t have to be hard.

It’s easy to think you need to reinvent the wheel each time but you don’t. In fact, when you have a clear plan for your layouts, your mind is free to be more creative, not less.

Instead of racking your brain or searching through photos for a new idea each time, you can focus on the fun, creative side of telling your personal story.

And that’s always a fave in my book.

Next week I’m going to be opening the doors for the 2015 edition of the Faves: The Faves Project: Monthly Faves.

If you’re in need of a new creative challenge, want to get more of YOU in your scrapbooks or just feel like you’re unsure what to scrap about and want to know more: get on the exclusive Faves Project list.

Happy Sweet Shoppe Saturday everyone! Can you believe the end of 2013 is already here? This week’s release marks not only my final New Release of 2013 but also the final release in one of my absolute FAVE (pun-intended) scrapbooking projects: the Monthly Faves!

For those new to Nettio Designs & the Faves, my Monthly Faves project is a year-long scrapbooking project where each month you scrapbook one layout documenting your top-ten favorite things from that month. Your faves can be anything: events, food, tv shows, technology, clothing – the sky’s the limit!

I’ve done my Monthly Faves project twice before, once in 2009 & again in 2011, and I love it so much I’m doing it again here in 2013. I can’t even tell you how much fun it is to look back on those layouts and see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. It’s like a mini time-capsule of your favorite things from way-back-when.

Here’s how my 2013 Monthly Faves layouts are shaping up so far this year…

Because it’s the easiest All About Me layout you’ll ever do. Seriously.

And this year I wanted to make it even easier for you to creatively capture your faves. So on the last(ish) Saturday of every month, I’ll be releasing that month’s Faves layout as a new Sweet Single template. Which should give you plenty of time to capture your Faves for that month before the new month arrives.

This week’s release is the final FAVE-O-RITES Sweet Single digital scrapbooking template of the year, FAVE-O-RITES 2013: December Faves. With it being the Christmas season, I thought it made sense to go a little festive with the design this month…

Here’s a bigger look at my 2013 December Faves layout that inspired this template. As you can see, my faves list is super random, which is exactly what I love! It’s not something you have to stress out over: make a list of 10 things, scrap it and boom, you’ve captured an easy snapshot of YOU in your scrapbooks. Just think how much fun it’ll be for you or your kids & grandkids to look back on one day!

Team Awesome Inspiration

Of course my team had a ton of fun this month scrapbooking their own take on the December Faves:

Bundle & Save on the Faves!

Since this is last FAVE-O-RITES release of 2013, I’ve also put together two bundle packs. If you’re looking to round out your Faves template collection, these are the way to go. First up, the FAVE-O-RITES 2013 Half Pack for Jul thru Dec…

And then the complete FAVE-O-RITES 2013 Collection which includes all 12 Faves templates from this year. If you missed out on the Faves in 2013 and are thinking of doing it for 2014, these are a GREAT way to jumpstart your project.

New Release Discount: SAVE 20% thru Saturday

And of course, as with every Sweet Shoppe Saturday, you can SAVE 20% off all new releases thru Saturday, include the December Faves template and both Faves bundle packs.